Beginner-Friendly Native Plants

These are some of our favorite easy and rewarding plants for the beginner native plant gardener. Source: North Coast CNPS Nursery Committee

Any Full Sun Part Shade Full Shade Full Sun Only Part Shade Only Full Shade Only

Any Low Moderate Tall

Any Perennial Herbs Shrubs Trees Annual Herbs Grasses Vines Ferns Succulents

Common Name Scientific Name	Sun	Height	Type	Humboldt Native
Common Yarrow Achillea millefolium		Low 1 - 3 ft	P	✓
Western Columbine Aquilegia formosa		Low 2 - 3 ft	P	✓
Sea Thrift Armeria maritima		Low ~ 1 ft	P	✓
Showy Milkweed Asclepias speciosa		Moderate 4 - 6 ft	P	✓
Beach evening-primrose Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia		Low ~ 1 ft	P	✓
Yerba Buena Clinopodium douglasii		Low < 1 ft	P	✓
California Aster Corethrogyne filaginifolia		Low 1 - 3 ft	P	✓
Seaside Daisy Erigeron glaucus		Low < 1 ft	P	✓
Coast Buckwheat Eriogonum latifolium		Low ~ 2 ft	P	✓
Scarlet Monkeyflower Erythranthe cardinalis		Low 2 - 3 ft	P	✓
Beach Strawberry Fragaria chiloensis		Low < 1 ft	P	✓
Douglas Iris Iris douglasiana		Low 1 - 3 ft	P	✓
California Bee Plant Scrophularia californica		Moderate 2 - 4 ft	P	✓
Checker Bloom Sidalcea malviflora		Low < 2 ft	P	✓
Blue Eyed Grass Sisyrinchium bellum		Low 1 - 2 ft	P	✓
Yellow Eyed Grass Sisyrinchium californicum		Low ~ 1 ft	P	✓
Apricot Mallow Sphaeralcea ambigua var. rugosa		Low 2 - 3 ft	P
California Aster Symphyotrichum chilense		Low 1 - 3 ft	P	✓
Piggyback Plant Tolmiea diplomenziesii		Low ~ 1 ft	P	✓
Oregon Grape Berberis aquifolium		Tall 4 - 7 ft		✓
California Lilac Ceanothus thyrsiflorus		Tall 2 - 30 ft		✓
Bush Monkeyflower Diplacus aurantiacus		Moderate 4 - 5 ft		✓
Red Bush Monkey Flower Diplacus (mimulus) puniceus		Low 1 - 2 ft
Toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia		Tall 6 - 30 ft		✓
Cream Bush Holodiscus discolor		Tall 3 - 16 ft		✓
California Wax Myrtle Morella californica		Tall 6 - 33 ft		✓
Western Azalea Rhododendron occidentale		Tall 6 - 16 ft		✓
Red Flowering Currant Ribes sanguineum		Tall 7 - 13 ft		✓
California Wildrose Rosa californica		Tall 8 - 10 ft		✓
Nootka Rose Rosa nutkana		Tall 6 - 10 ft		✓
Western Thimbleberry Rubus parviflorus		Tall 4 - 8 ft		✓
White Sage Salvia apiana		Moderate 3 - 5 ft
Red Elderberry Sambucus racemosa		Tall 7 - 20 ft		✓
Bluff Lettuce Dudleya farinosa		Low < 1 ft		✓
Broad-leaved Stonecrop Sedum spathulifolium		Low < 1 ft		✓
California Poppy Eschscholzia californica		Low < 2 ft	A	✓
California Goldfields Lasthenia californica		Low ~ 1 ft	A	✓
Common Tidy Tips Layia platyglossa		Low 1 - 2 ft	A
Baby Blue Eyes Nemophila menziesii		Low ~ 1 ft	A	✓
Coast Phacelia Phacelia californica		Low 1 - 2 ft	A	✓
Cream Cups Platystemon californicus		Low ~ 1 ft	A	✓
Siskiyou Blue Fescue Festuca idahoensis 'siskiyou blue'		Low 1 - 2 ft
Sword Fern Polystichum munitum		Moderate 2 - 6 ft		✓